Nothing says love like commitment!  As we've been focusing on how we show God we love Him this week, every single means of demonstrating our love to God requires commitment.  It takes commitment to sing to God.  What's the commitment?  It's a commitment to recognize God as worthy of our praise.  It's a commitment for some of us to overcome our natural inability to sing, and to commit to "making a joyful noise" to the Lord.  It takes commitment for us to talk and listen to God, because doing say takes time, effort, energy and an acknowledgement that God is there to hear and respond!  It also takes commitment to actually listen to Him!  It certainly takes commitment to publicly identify with Jesus, because when we do that we tell OTHERS that we are committed to Him.  That subjects us to ridicule or being dismissed by those who don't believe in Jesus.

Last night, we had the joy as a congregation of witnessing thirteen folks publicly identify with Jesus through being baptized.  Each of their commitment to Jesus was evident.  One stated He was being baptized because God was calling Him to be a missionary.  In fact, He said, "I'm God's missionary," making the commitment a present reality rather than a future dream.  I hope you were there to witness powerful time of commitment, because one of the ways our own commitment is strengthened is by witnessing others stepping forward and proclaiming their commitment to Jesus.

Today is Thanksgiving, an official holiday set aside for the purpose of demonstrating our commitment to God by pausing to THANK Him for who He is and all He does.  Even as our culture has become more and more separated from our Judaeo-Christian roots, the Thanksgiving Holiday has remained a statement of commitment to God.  Sure, some see it as nothing more than a day off school or work, or the beginning of the "Holiday" shopping season, but for those of us who are committed to Jesus, it is a day that represents every day of our lives, because it reminds us to give thanks to the one who created us, redeemed us and sustains us!  Happy Thanksgiving!

Why not take a moment today as you're giving thanks, to thank God for the ability to make commitments, and to keep them in the power of the Holy Spirit?  Why not take a moment to consider one commitment you need to make to show God that You love Him, or consider a commitment you have made that you need to recommit your life to in order to show God your love?  As you're doing that, ask yourself, "Who could help me keep this commitment?" because as we've been reminding ourselves for the past month or so--we ARE better together!

Let's pray:  Heavenly Father, Thank You for who You are and all You do!  On this Thanksgiving Day, fill us with Your Holy Spirit that we may live with grateful hearts and committed lives to Your glory and the extension of Your eternal Kingdom.  This we ask in Jesus' name.  Amen.